July 7, 2003

The Chapel Hill-based Southern Charm, which included numerous current and former UNC players, won its fifth consecutive U.S. Field Hockey Association Summer League title July 6 at the U.S. Field Hockey Training Center in Virginia Beach, Va.

The Charm beat the Tidewater Tempest 3-0 for the crown. Jackie Pereira, a former Olympian from Australia who is now an assistant coach at UNC, scored all three goals.

Former UNC All-America Jana Withrow, also a Carolina assistant, started in goal and earned the shutout. Other former UNC players in the Charm starting lineup were Stephanie Fuller, Meredith Keller, Leslie Lyness and Cindy Werley. Like Pereira and Withrow, Werley is now a UNC assistant.

Current Tar Heels Amber Chambers, Kerry Falgowski, Kelsey Keeran and Katy Potter also played for the Charm.

While Nick Conway, a former UNC assistant, was the team's head coach, he missed all but the second weekend of competition due to his current position as an assistant coach for the U.S. Women's National Team. In his absence, North Carolina head coach Karen Shelton and Wake Forest assistant Neil MacMillan shared coaching duties, alternating the roles of head coach and manager from game to game.

A total of eight teams participated in this year's league. Play began May 31 with a double-round robin of the Northern Division teams (Metro Rush, New England Eclipse, Pennsylvania Pride, Philadelphia Fury) in New Haven, Conn. The following weekend, the Southern Division teams (Southern Charm, Tidewater Tempest, Midwest Cyclones and the U.S. Under-20 Team) met at the training center in Virginia Beach. Play continued on June 21-22 with all eight teams convening in Virginia Beach for a double-round robin. The top four teams - the Charm, the Tempest, the Rush and the Cyclones - advanced to the semifinals on July 5 at the training center. In those games, the Charm defeated the Rush 3-1 and the Tempest beat the Cyclones 5-3.

In the consolation game, the Rush beat the Cyclones 7-3. Other current members of the UNC team who participated in the summer league were Carey Fetting-Smith, Brooke Miller and Katy Tran, all members of the U.S. Under-20 team.